


Big Brother and Crow

by ghoulscomecrawling, sassypotassium



Series: BBAC [1]
Category: Homestuck
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-12
Updated: 2013-02-01
Packaged: 2017-11-25 04:59:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,726
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/635366
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghoulscomecrawling/pseuds/ghoulscomecrawling, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sassypotassium/pseuds/sassypotassium
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Dave, no, wait, just hear me out, please." He caught your arm. "What if we worked together, you could help me, um, doing good in the world, help curb what I-I do."</p><p>You could tell he still had trouble saying it when he wasn't “fresh from the kill” so to speak.</p><p>"You want me to help you kill?"<br/>(Name changed, formerly Cro)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1-1

**Author's Note:**

> http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLFD618DAE9091828A
> 
> For update notifications follow [bigbroandcrow.tumblr.com](http://bigbroandcrow.tumblr.com/) or track the BBAC tag!

Jade was introducing you and Bro to her friends today. Well she was properly introducing you to everyone, something about Rose telling her it was polite. You kinda already met them all, through text and brief meetings, all with Bro hanging over your shoulder. Nothing like the sit-down she was taking you to today. She literally dragged you down to this tiny coffee shop and, judging Bros expression, has not stopped talking since she came by your new house. It had taken Bro this long to just give her the directions, and even then he gave her ones that were slightly skewed. 

"Dave, I really hope you like your new place! Must be nice to live in a house and not an apartment now, huh, and maybe you can still strut on the roof." She pointed out the sidewalk to take as you corrected her rather ridiculous word mix up. 

"Jade, it’s,”  you grunt and rub your nose, “it’s strife, not strut, we ain’t peacocks." 

That only got her to laugh and comment on both how you and Bro styled your hair and what she called "obviously like a male peacock attracting a mate."

You seriously have no idea what goes through her mind sometimes.

Once you got in the cafe, you damn near bowed down before the AC. Walking was annoying as fuck when you had to keep a somewhat normal pace. And Jade’s chatter didn't help it go any faster. Sliding into the far end of the booth, Bro sat next to you, obviously uncomfortable, but he wouldn't leave you on your own. Not yet. And you had no idea when he would trust you again, if ever; it would be probably when you showed trust to him. So in other words, it would probably take a while.

Dave sighed and rested his chin on his hand, zoning off to the sound of Jade's chatter.

_"Dave, I have to tell you, I can't keep this a secret anymore," Bro scoffed, looking grim,  "What you found was real, I.." He sighed taking his hands off your shoulders, only to tuck them in his pockets. Yeah, so what if you were watching every movement? You would be even further shocked if he expected anything less. "Lil man, I did what I had to. It was, well... it seems stupid, but I can't stop it. People out there are a lot worse than me and I am trying to make it safer." _

You remember running to your room, slamming the door, screaming into your pillow. Your brother was a murderer, and trying to pass it off with a wave of a hand. Why did you never notice before, _how_ could you have never noticed!

Sure, you were a bit cooler with it now, with him having explained it all to you — to the best of his ability — and then y'all had to move, pack everything and leave that very night. You got all you wanted and left the rest in boxes.

_ "It’s fine lil man, I got some people coming to get the rest, trustworthy people. So, they won't narc on me. Heh, don't want to get in trouble for all these shitty swords, huh?" _

_You glanced from your video game, watching as he tried to diffuse a possible situation. Bro looked up from his computer after typing away to someone. You weren't sure who he was talking to, but he had been talking to them for a while now. He usually started talking to them right after getting home, and at times he seemed really upset or angry; you could see him gripping the table and glaring at nothing, as far as you could tell. But then it would be gone, just like that. It was strange, to say the least, like he wanted to hurt something, or someone, and at times you wanted to run for the phone or a sword if you had to. But he never got up from the table ‘til he calmed down._

_"Hey, I got to head out and fill the gas cans, uh... " He looked nervous, like he expected something, so you simply nodded and umhummed and went back to packing the kitchenware. He moved slowly around the apartment, probably for your sake, and informed you, again, that he was leaving for a moment._

_As soon as he was gone you jumped up, heading to the computer and opening his chat window._

_You started off on reading back through the chat, but a response popped up for Bro._

TC: Back already?

_Shit._

TT: Yeah.  
TT: Yeah, I am done.   
TT: So.   
TC: Well, appears I continue to underestimate your knack for speed, hee hee.  
TT: You know me, man.

_You hoped that was indeed someone that can be called “man.”_

TC: Hm.  
TC: Of course I do, man.   
TC: So. How was the test drive, Bro?

_What?_

TT: Smooth as the Velveteen Rabbit’s ass.

_Did you really just type that?_

TC: Haa haa haa.  
TC: Good, I had hoped so.

_Oh blessed god. Not even Skrillex could drop that, that’s how based you are._

TT: Sure thing.  
TC: Anyway, I suppose this means we can get back to business, hmm?  
TC: What’s the plan for your brother?  
TC: Surely you aren’t bringing him with you.  
TT: What?  
TT: Of course I am.  
TT: He’s staying right with me.  
TC: You don’t mean you’re keeping him with you?  
TC: He’s staying right with you all on his own?

_What the hell was he talking about? How much did this guy know?_

TC: Are you still there, Bro?  
TT: Yeah, of course.  
TC: Of course what?  
TT: Of course I’m here of course Dave’s coming with me and of course he’s doing it on his own.  
TC: Ah.  
TC: Of course.  
TC: Hee hee hoo hoo haa haa.

_This guy is a fucking creep._

TT: Hey, I should get going again.  
TC: Alright, fair enough.  
TC: Just remind Dave again that he’s welcome to contact me any time.  
TC: I know how you can be, how you can get. I’m sure it’d be nice for him to have someone to talk about that with, right?  
TC: I’ll talk to you later, Bro.  
TC: Hoo hoo hoo.

\-- thelemasCore [TC] ceased pestering thinkTacenda [TT] \-- 

_You went back to your video game._

Maybe you should have left, found someone else to live with, or even lived on your own, but you couldn't. Not with the way he was acting. Like a kicked puppy, and at sometimes, frighteningly possessive. And as much as you hated to admit it to yourself, you could understand it. He didn't want to be left alone, or sent to jail, and...

He still took care of you. He always had, too, so that means something, right? You really hoped so.

_"Dave, no, wait, just hear me out, please." He caught your arm.  "What if we worked together, you could help me, um, doing good in the world, help curb what I-I do."_

_You could tell he still had trouble saying it when he wasn't “fresh from the kill” so to speak._

_"You want me to help you kill?" The disbelief was thick in your voice._

_"Only the bad guys Dave! What do you say Dave? Dave?" He kept holding on to you and shaking your arm and calling your name and_ no that's not how it went at all!

_ "...Dave? Dav _ e! Dave! DAVE!"

Jumping, you come out of your stupor and smile apologetically. "Sorry guys, I guess the trip took more out of me than I thought."

Bro gives you a look that you only notice because of the twitch of his eyebrows, that concerned and pissed off all at once look. You’ve seen it enough to know even with the shades.

“Maybe I should head back and get some sleep, its been great seeing y’all.”

You’re almost losing track of the amount of these meet-ups you’ve gone to. Once again you find yourself dragged by Harley, stuck in a booth and daydreaming.

_He seemed so happy right then, a rare sight with Bro lately, and you wanted to keep it that way for as long as you could._

_“Yeah! That sounds perfect! Then we can be Big B —” _

"...rother and Crow?"

Suddenly, you are flung back to the corner table of the Crocker Café. You examine Rose wiping down the countertop near the cash register as you regain your bearings. You sense Bro giving you a look, but you know better than to acknowledge it.

"Oh good lord," complains Jake, learning forward to set his head on his hand.

"What?" continues John, "I'm just saying."

"You're always just saying," says Jane, crossing her arms and leaning back. "Ever since they came into the picture, honestly John."

Jade speaks up. "I don't think we've gone a meeting without you bringing them up, since like, the new Striders have been here."

"I've been right a few times," he reminds her, "plus Dave seemed interested, so."

You sit up and sputter a bit, adjusting your shades. You notice Jane pauses, likely to find the debate evidence that you realize she's probably been saving up for a few weeks now, but Jake interjects.

"You know," he begins, glancing to Jane furtively, "not suggesting they're to be respected or anything, but, I'm really quite questioning their choice of names. I mean they're trying to come off as heroes, right? What with the sort of lot they bully. But what better way to lose the trust of every literate joe who's been through high school than call yourself 'Big Brother'?"

Rose pipes up, as she tends to occasionally do. Everyone turns to see her counter, where she's broken the silence. "Well," she says, "there must be something said for 'Big Brother is watching.'"

You look to Bro to see him already looking Rose over. Rose returns to wiping down various oblique surfaces.

Mr. Egbert adjusts his uniform scarf.  "I do believe the incidents are related," he says,  "but only insofar as inspirationally. Admittedly, those two have been doing much of our job for us, but for every group they take down, they inspire another barrage of hooligans. While their team is arguably pacifistic, those they invoke to action are much less so."

Bro bites the nail of his thumb.

John sighs."Alright, fine. What's our plan for tonight?"

"Well," says Mr. Egbert, looking to the clock, "I'm sure my brother would like me to start getting everyone out of his café, since we're ten minutes over time."

"That it then?" asks Bro.

You then realize you're the only person in the conversation to not have spoken. You grunt.

"I suppose so. We're going to collect a few officers and set up patrols for the night," confirms Mr. Egbert. "Everyone's free to go home, I'll get some rookie salamanders."

Everyone scoots their chair back and stands up, including you.

John grins at you as he's pushing in his seat. "How are these meetings going for you?"

You shrug. "Not so bad."

"You weren't paying attention at all, huh?"

”Well, I mean, uh. Um, no, not really," you admit.

"That's fine, man. They're boring as hell." He starts untying his scarf and heading to the door. "But you might want to bring up some more of those guesses on Crow sometime soon or dad might reconsider letting you and your brother sit with us."

You follow, pulling down and readjusting your shirt. "Oh, yeah. I'll try. I mean, I just know a lot of Batman and shit, it's not really like I have a PhD on, you know, deranged psychos wearing leotards in the dead of night."

John looks... surprisingly hurt by your description? "Eh, that's cool. But don't withhold whatever kind of nerdy inspiration you get, alright?"

You nod, and once you're out the door, Bro instantly herds you away and leads you back home.

"Those are gonna be fuckin' hell," he says.


	2. 1-2

The night you finally understood Bro’s deal — what all the confusing mailing systems meant, why you never met his friends and he never met yours, why he had a strong aversion to watching the news, why he went out so much at night and occasionally came back just as horny as he left, and how he seemed to have a showering addiction more powerful Lady Macbeth’s interest in hand soap — he came home covered in blood.

At first, you weren’t really sure it was even him. His shades were off, tucked away somewhere, his hat assumedly in the same place. His hair was caked and spiked from something other than gel, dirtier than gel, his shirt was ripped messily at the chest, and he stepped in with a slight limp, shouldering the door of the hallway open quietly. He had a backpack slung on the other shoulder, covered in stains _(please be mud)._

You instantly grabbed for the closest weapon in sight, a small, probably dull knife, and pointed it at him threateningly.

He flinched, like he’d already been stabbed, but dropped the bag by the door and pointed down the hall with a half-extended finger.

“Shower,” he said weakly, and you let him go.

_It was fake. It was for some sick porno. It was his own blood. He had a nosebleed. He got his period. Someone beat him up. Someone grabbed him for a cult ritual and he’s lucky to tell the tale._

Those developed later into: _They’re murderers too. They’re rapists. They’re thieves and frauds and sociopaths and those people who don’t pick up their dog’s shit._

Those developed later into: _He never slipped up. He only slipped up once, and it was a drug dealer. He only slipped up twice, and it was just a couple hookers. He only slipped up twice and it wasn’t anybody you knew. He only slipped up three times, and it wasn’t you._

You gave up justifying it. Just as long as he stopped, you could act like it never happened.

And he did.

And you helped.

That was what all this was about. Like nicotine patches for the psychopathic mind.

But you kept the knife with you.


	3. 1-3

You figure there’d have to be questions, for god’s sake you’re beating people unconscious night after night, the police are after you, and every other person wants you in jail or a mental institution or anywhere really but please in the name of god away from them and their children. 

Occasionally you wondered if you were like Bro. If starting off with this, enjoying beating the crap out of these lowlives, would amount to something scarier. But you weren’t any good at it, and you could never actually harm anyone. Bruise them up like hell, yeah, but that wasn’t harming them. They weren’t any worse for wear later, though they were, notably, in jail.

As you and he click your heels to start up flashstepping and your shoes started whirring away, the men across the alleyway start shouting, dropping a woman to pay attention to you two. Bro grunts. A second later, one is down on his back and coughing up phlegm. Bro has his foot on their chest and a wad of another one’s shirt in his fist.

The first of the other two comes after you. You dodge a punch and in leaning back stick out a foot, dropping to the ground and tripping the guy off his anchor. He falls, nose making a nasty noise on the pavement as it hits. One fell swoop, he’s down too.

But as you stand back up, a force whips across the back of your head. You stumble, catching yourself against a wall and turning to see the fourth man. He raises another fist...

Suddenly a large black figure is upon him, feet planted to his ribs, palm against his head, other hand wielding a slender knife.

When the figure lands, the knife has been withdrawn from the man’s throat and returned to its spot.

There is a short, frozen moment for you to examine the event: the figure is female, as you deduce with a generous look at her chest; it was hard to tell, since for some reason her outline is incredibly blurred. She wears black from head to toe — shoes, tights, shorts, shirt, gloves — but for a heavy pink belt, loaded with knives and a small pistol. Her face is covered by a silver mask shaped like a rather angry skull, underneath a hooded cowl. As soon as the figure stands again, she’s off in a sprint down the alley.

“HEY!” shouts Bro, starting after her.

She flips the bird back behind her and ducks around the corner.

The other men are running too if they can move; the woman as well.

The man spurts blood for a moment from his wound, first with a choke and then with a longer, less human gurgle. It collects in a pool around his neck, then reaches his ear and shoulders, follows the cracks in the sidewalk a little creek of red meeting your foot and pooling there too and how could so much blood come from one person jesus fucking —

You throw up.


	4. 1-4

Bro has gotten cross after the last nocturnal escapade. You can’t blame him, after all; he was front row and center to the blood show. It’s been at least two months since either of you saw that much blood, assuming, knowing he’s been true to his word since you left Houston. And you know it’s not a good thing. You’ve had two months totally clean, and there that bitch goes by spraying the blood of some poor sap all over Bro. She threw a damn T-bone steak his way and took it back, snatched it right from under the nose of his psychopathy after giving it a moment to salivate over it. He tugs and pulls at the proverbial leash you had on him. Testing you to see if you'd just let him out just let him go just one night only once he would even clean up before he came home. And you won’t, god no. 

He apologizes later that night. 

“I didn’t even want to kill anyone. I don’t know. Maybe I just want to know if...? I dunno man, forget it.”

In the last two months since leaving Houston, you and he have almost gone back to normal. Bro gets the occasional “withdrawal” moodswing, but other than that (and fighting crime in the dark recesses of the night), you’ve been in the clear. Even Bro says he’s surprised by how easily this seemed to clear up. He says he’s tried before, of course, but to no avail. He adds it’s probably because you’re helping this time.

Whatever keeps him going.

\-- turntechGodhead [TG] began pestering thelemasCore  [TC]  \--

TG: hey   
TG: uh   
TG: sup   
TC: Who the FUCK is THIS?   
TG: um   
TC: Oh god!   
TC: You must be Dave!   
TG: yeah that would be me   
TG: good old tg   
TC: My apologies, Dave, it’s been a tad hectic around here. You know how life gets, hee hee.   
TG: bro said to talk to you if i needed like help i guess   
TC: Oh yes, I remember saying to him.   
TC: I’ve come to know your brother isn’t great with introductions. Did he give you my name?   
TG: nope   
TC: I’m Cal.   
TC: Nice to meet you, hoo hoo hoo.   
TG: same to you   
TC: Anyway, I assume you’re not here just to chat.   
TC: What do you need?   
TG: oh uh   
TG: i mean   
TG: bros just kinda been on edge a whole lot lately like hes freaking out a lot and hes tense all the time   
TG: i mean its been like that since moving away from our apartment but its really gotten just especially bad lately   
TG: like he does that mopey thing i dunno if you know it but he just curls up into himself or whatever the hell hed call it   
TG: then outta fucking nowhere hes all up in arms again and theres no chillin him out he could od on that tube of chill pills before it even took effect   
TG: ok bad analogy but do you know what i mean its this dumb cycle and to be pretty honest here im getting pretty skeeved on all this shit   
TC: DAVE.   
TG: you know??   
TG: oh   
TC: Haa haa, seems like you’ve been thinking about this awhile, lil bird.   
TC: Don't worry there, I know what you mean. Being around Bro can be taxing.    
TG: little bird   
TC: Oh, yes I did call you that didn’t I?   
TC: Does it bother you? It's just, hee hee, I call your brother big bird. He's so tall and lanky. And have you seen his hair?   
TC: Plus, you sure can chirp! Hoo hoo hoo.   
TG: i guess im cool with it   
TC: Anyway, what’s your question here?   
TG: oh well just guess i wanna know how to like   
TG: make him   
TG: not do that   
TC: Act like he does?   
TG: act like he shouldnt   
TC: Of course.   
TC: I suppose there’s not a whole lot for him when he gets like that!   
TC: He could go like that for days when we used to hang out.   
TC: But that’s not to get you discouraged! He seems to be a much calmer man these days, anyway.   
TC: Remind him occasionally, perhaps, that you’re there for him.   
TC: And do try not to be afraid! You can likely attempt soothing him out of those moods, I don’t think he could truly hurt you, of all people. So feel good in going directly to him.   
TC: But your safety is a priority so don’t be afraid to be afraid, either.   
TC: Does that make sense to you?   
TG: i guess   
TG: that sounds good enough   
TC: Good to hear, hee hee hoo hoo.  
TC: Also remember you can always talk to me when you’re feeling down.  
TG: sure  
TC: Good!  
TG: well i actually better get going  
TG: i mean you helped a lot man dont get me wrong i just think bro might be back  
TG: he was kinda  
TG: you know  
TC: I understand, I hope to have another chat soon, lil bird! Hoo hoo!  
TG: see you around man

\-- thelemasCore [TC] ceased pestering turntechGodhead [TG] \--


End file.
